


In Any Order

by Bounemr



Series: The Lord and The Lady [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chapters can be read in any order, Drabble Collection, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Marinette, Non-Linear Narrative, Trans Male Character, trans male Adrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 18:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6481447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bounemr/pseuds/Bounemr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a series of nine 100 word drabbles, meant to be read in any order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Any Order

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by "Poem With Lines In Any Order" by Robert Pinsky. Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read this on my tumblr, where it's posted without chapter breaks. It might be easier if you want to read it in a different order than the one I post it in (which I encourage). The first chapter, “In Any Order”, is mimicking Pinsky’s poem, while the rest are the nine drabbles proper.

Rain would corrode. There was absolutely nothing to do about it.

She flinched, sometimes, when he’d call her his lady; other times, she grinned.

Ladybug decided that Chat deserved the chance to be her friend.

Chat Noir pounced on his lady and purred _You’re mine now, Ladybug._

Under an umbrella, it was easy to pretend that the world outside your circle didn’t matter.

_I will never stop loving you._

Adrien figured his father really did help him forward.

It was always awkward when Chat caught his (male) Ladybug.

His lady told him _I’m not the person you think I am._


	2. Tied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir pounced on his lady and purred "You’re mine now, Ladybug."

Lost in the ocean and the skies and the universe in between and beyond, Chat Noir crept through the concrete jungle. He jumped, he laughed, he fell for the girl in red and black who soared with the stars.

Chat Noir pounced on his lady and purred _You’re mine now, Ladybug._

“You wish, Kitten,” she said. But she pushed him off, smiled at him, and tied their fingers together like she was tying down a sail. A gale stole his breath, but ironically, it was her fingers woven through his that blew him away. He swore to never let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	3. Find Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was always awkward when Chat caught his (male) Ladybug.

As much as they didn’t want to listen to everyone’s incessant repetition of “she” and “her”, Marinette was much too frightened to tell everyone what the matter was. People would never understand. Most don’t even realize it’s possible to be neither “he” nor “her”. Or both. Or one, sometimes. Marinette never told anyone, because sometimes they could never be sure who they were going to be that day, or that hour, or that week.

And if Chat understood, Marinette didn’t want to confuse him by asking him for new pronouns.

It was always awkward when Chat caught his (male) Ladybug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	4. My Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She flinched, sometimes, when he’d call her his lady; other times, she grinned.

There were some things Chat Noir couldn’t understand. Ladybug made the top of that list. He was never entirely sure who he was talking to, but he assumed that was just the nature of their masks.

She flinched, sometimes, when he’d call her his lady; other times, she grinned.

Chat Noir wouldn’t say anything to hurt her, but her reactions were ambiguous, so he wasn’t sure if he should stop. Ladybug, for him, was dancing, performing, gliding through the atria of his heart and playing beautiful tones on his heartstrings as if they were a harp. He smiled and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	5. Shifting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug decided that Chat deserved the chance to be their friend.

After they beat Hawk Moth, Ladybug wasn’t sure how to handle Chat Noir. They didn’t want to say goodbye, but their role as Ladybug had come to an end. Their job was finished, their purpose achieved, so what would they do about their partner?

Ladybug decided that Chat deserved the chance to be their friend.

Even if he wanted nothing to do with them after the end, they were going to give him the chance he’d been asking for. Because they may never be Ladybug again, and moving on without letting Chat Noir stay by their side would be impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	6. Lost in Translation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien figured his father really did help him forward.

The frictional forces always opposed the direction of movement, but that didn’t mean they were a bad thing. Without friction, there would be nothing to push off of. Unless you wanted to go straight up, you couldn’t move at all. That’s why Adrien liked to think that opposition wasn’t always a bad thing.

He liked to think that his powers opposing Ladybug’s so meant that she needed him. He believed that he was able to propel her ahead, and he was happy for it. Chat wanted to be supportive and reliable.

Adrien figured his father really did help him forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	7. Isolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Under an umbrella, it was easy to pretend that the world outside your circle didn’t matter.

Under an umbrella, it was easy to pretend that the world outside your circle didn’t matter.

Marinette always liked how the downpour would always mute the otherwise vibrant colors of the city. It dulled oranges and dampened reds. It softened greens and darkened yellows. The world was easier to look at from their little birdcage with bars of water. They could close the door and nothing could touch them. If they wanted, they had enough space to share with one other person.

In their little bubble, Marinette didn’t have to worry about the city. They could worry about other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	8. Trust Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I will never stop loving you."

After years of working together, Chat Noir knew why Ladybug acted the ways she did. It never ceased to amaze him how such a lady, such a person, could doubt themselves even the slightest. He did his best to encourage her, but when he discovered she didn’t even believe in his perception of her, his heart sung a chorus his lips couldn’t repeat.

_I will never stop loving you._

He knew the words in his soul wouldn’t be as appreciated as gentler, more careful ones in their stead. Those would have to do; he wasn’t sure what else to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	9. Acid Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rain would corrode. There was absolutely nothing to do about it.

Even with no pollution, if humans didn’t exist or if they ran completely green societies, rainwater would still be acidic. By nature’s convention, the carbon dioxide in the air would react to turn rainwater slightly acidic.

Rain would corrode. There was absolutely nothing to do about it.

Ladybug felt like they were iron, a statue in a park like the one of them and Chat Noir put up years ago. As the rain washed over them they felt like it was reacting with them, making them rust, corroding their mask and body until all that was left was their soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


	10. Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His lady told him "I’m not the person you think I am."

His lady told him _I’m not the person you think I am._

Chat Noir wondered if she was aware that he was only the person she knew. Maybe not the person she thought he was, but only the one she knew. Because even when he stopped pretending to be a girl in his civilian life, he was never really able to be a boy either.

People were good at seeing what they wanted to. Chat considered the possibility that he was only seeing Ladybug the way he wanted. He wondered what she would say if she knew who he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to "http://bounemr.tumblr.com/post/142378519718/the-lord-and-the-lady-in-any-order" to read without chapter breaks.


End file.
